N64 Magazine Issue 13 | Nintendo Mags

Introduction

For Issue 13 a new Editor sat in the chair, as James replaced Jonathan on page 3 of the mag. Thankfully, with the majority of the team intact, the mag kept to its same high standards. The main focus of the issue was to celebrate the N64’s (and the magazine’s) first birthday with 25 pages worth of features, including the team picking their favourite game so far and an in depth interview with Rare as they dug deep to find out what was coming next from the acclaimed developers. Alongside that, they also launched Skill Club 64 - where readers could complete challenges on 10 specially selected games with the opportunity to get your name on the leaderboard and earn a Gold certificate and also launched their latest challenge competition - this time on Goldeneye 007. A further feature looked at some of the early designs for N64 Magazine and the process of launching the magazine.

Elsewhere, the big review this month was the UK version of Fighters Destiny, a criminally under-rated beat-em-up which Jes scored at 86%, calling it the N64’s version of tekken, with special praise for the visuals and the depth of the different modes. Tetrisphere (69%) and Cruis’n USA (24%) were the other UK releases, whilst in the Import Arena, the conversion of the PC classic Sim City 2000 scoring a pretty good 83% and Pachinko World 64 scoring a lowly 12%.

Unfortunately that was it for new releases as the spring lull was in full force. On the other hand there were plenty of nearly ready games previewed, the star of which was Nintendo’s very own 1080° Snowboarding, with Midway’s Bio Freaks, Konami’s G.A.S.P Fighters Nextream and Ocean’s puzzler Wetrix also getting Future Looks, showcasing the many developers working towards new N64 releases. In the news this month they reported back from Nintendo’s ‘Gamers Summit’ held in Washington DC, giving Americans a chance to see Nintendo’s own upcoming releases including the latest news about Banjo Kazooie.

In their ‘How To…’ ;guides this month, they looked at Fifa ‘98 as well as how to track down the best video game bargains, including some of the many combinations of games you could get for £100. Their reader guide looked at beating the battle modes of Diddy Kong Racing and there were the usual tips extra and Nintendo Hotline sections. Whilst the Goldeneye challenge was starting, another came to a conclusion as the magazine held the finals of their Lylat Wars championship.

Articles

Future Look

1080 Snowboarding
Bio Freaks
G.A.S.PII Fighters Nextream
Wetrix

Coming Soon

Banjo-Kazooie
Gex 3: Enter the Gecko
Reckin' Balls
Rampage World Tour
Holy Magic Century

Reviews

Pachinko World 64
Author: Tim Weaver
Country: Jap
Score: 12%
Cruis'n USA
Author: Tim Weaver
Country: UK
Score: 24%
Tetrisphere
Author: Steve Jarratt
Country: UK
Score: 69%
Sim City 2000
Author: James Price
Country: Jap
Score: 83%
Fighters Destiny
Author: Jes Bickham
Country: UK
Score: 86%

How To

Launch a Sucessful N64 Magazine
(Belatedly) qualify for the World Cup in FIFA '98
Track down the best game bargains
Beat everyone at the battle modes in Diddy Kong Racing

Features

Happy Birthday N64
Goldeneye 007 Spymaster Competition
Lylat Wars Championship - Result

Staff

James Ashton Editor
Tim Weaver Deputy Editor
Wil Overton Art Editor
Paul Jarrold Art Assistant
Jes Bickham Writer
Andrea Ball Production Editor
James Price Writer